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Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher David Buchanan delivers in the first inning of a spring training game against the Toronto Blue Jays on March 24 in Dunedin, Fla. Buchanan had a strong opening night for the Lehigh Valley IronPigs.
(AP File Photo | KATHY WILLENS)

Led by starter David Buchanan, four pitchers combined for a
two-hit shutout and the offense scored two early runs for a cushion as the
IronPigs beat the Pawtucket Red Sox 4-0 at McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket, R.I.

"Good all-around first ballgame," said IronPigs manager Dave
Brundage. "There was a little bit of everything."

Buchanan picked right up where he left off in spring
training, spinning six shutout innings of two-hit baseball to earn the win.

Three relievers -- Mike Nesseth, Jeremy Horst, and Luis
Garcia -- followed suit, each with a perfect inning to preserve the two-hit
shutout.

"Overall, I thought (Buchanan) did a fine job out there,"
Brundage said.

Clete Thomas lined the second pitch of the game for a
double, and it was all IronPigs after that. A wild pitch moved Thomas to third,
and he came around to score when Maikel Franco collected his first Triple-A hit
and RBI on a grounder back up the middle.

Jim Murphy came up next and delivered the first of his three
hits on the night, a double roped down the third-base line. Franco was off on
the pitch and came around to score for the 2-0 lead.

Buchanan threw six of his first seven pitches for balls, but
after a lead-off walk, he settled down and retired the next three batters in order.

"I was kind of trying to feel for it and get back in the
swing of things," Buchanan said. "The second inning I started cruising and
getting strike one and attacking the (batters) was the biggest thing."

The 24-year old set down the side in order twice, and only
faced 21 batters over six innings. Buchanan struck out five, walked two, and
threw 89 pitches, 52 of which were strikes.

"I felt all right," Buchanan said. "It was a game I had to
battle, but that's pitching. I had a lot of defensive plays and run support. It
was a great team win."

Buchanan said his cutter and curveball weren't working for
him as much as he'd like, but felt he had a strong changeup to compliment his
fastball.

This was the first time ever the Red Sox were shutout at
home in a season opener, and their first opening-day loss since 2005.

In his Triple-A debut, Murphy finished the night a home run short
of a cycle. After his double in the first and single in the third, he tripled
in the seventh when the ball bounced over right fielder Bryce Brentz who
attempted to make a sliding catch.

Murphy later scored on a wild pitch for the fourth run.

"We probably won't see too many triples out of him this
year," Brundage quipped. "He got it out of the way early."

Murphy had an at-bat in the ninth inning with the cycle on
the line, but struck out after a few big hacks.

"That would have been pretty sweet," Murphy said. "I took a
couple chances on those breaking balls, took a couple shots at it but didn't
get it."

Cameron Rupp added a solo shot to left field in the fourth
inning to put the IronPigs ahead 3-0.

"When everybody's throwing strikes, getting on base, hitting
the ball hard, it makes the game a lot more fun," Rupp said. "It showed."

The IronPigs showed strong plate discipline all night,
making Pawtucket's pitchers work. Lehigh
Valley batters drew four straight
3-2 counts in the first inning, and drew three walks in the fifth inning.
Overall, the IronPigs walked seven times and forced Red Sox hurlers to throw
186 pitches.

"We had good, patient at-bats," Brundage said. "We forced
them to throw strikes, stayed within ourselves, and we took our walks when they
gave them to us."

Only twice all night were the IronPigs retired in order.

Lehigh Valley
left 10 runners on base, but it didn't come back to hurt them as the pitching
was on point all night.

Brundage said before the game that the bullpen would be by
committee and relievers would be competing to earn their innings. In that
respect, Nesseth, Horst (struck out the side), and Garcia all got off to strong
starts.

"I thought they did a god job," Brundage said. "We did a
good job of throwing strikes. We forced them to beat us with hits, and
fortunately, we didn't give up a hit the last (six) innings. Anytime that
happens, you're going to make your four runs stand up."